JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed concern about ongoing displacement and destruction caused by Israeli strikes against Lebanon as he concluded a two-day visit to the country on Monday.
Lebanon faces crises including delayed elections, economic collapse and conflict. More than 4,300 people have been killed and 12,200 more have been injured in Lebanon since Iran-backed Hezbollah militants joined the regional war triggered by US-Israeli attacks on 2 March, according to national authorities.
'I am concerned that the overall conduct resulting in large scale displacement and denial of returns could amount to international crimes,' Türk said at a press conference in the capital Beirut on Monday.
While in Lebanon, Türk met representatives from the Lebanese Government, civil society groups, national human rights mechanisms and people who were forced to flee their homes because of the conflict.
Despite a conditional ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Lebanese Government reached via US-led talks on April 17, Israel has continued to conduct airstrikes and use explosive weapons in densely populated areas while Hezbollah has likewise continued fighting, leading to mass displacement, according to the UN's human rights office.
At a school repurposed as a shelter for around 1,000 people fleeing violence, civilians told Mr. Türk how their homes, schools, healthcare facilities, water distribution networks, electricity infrastructure, places of worship and agricultural land had been destroyed by Israeli strikes.
With the consent of Lebanon's government, the UN human rights office recently deployed a mission to Lebanon to collect information and evidence on alleged human rights and humanitarian violations committed by all parties to the conflict.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon's mandate will expire at the end of this year. The peacekeepers' absence could pose new risks for civilians in southern Lebanon, Türk warned.
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